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SALT LAKE CITY - Former University of Utah football star Steve Smith - now an all-pro receiver for the Carolina Panthers - and his wife Angie have pledged a $250,000 gift to the Utah athletics department to endow a scholarship for a wide receiver. Smith becomes the first Ute football player, and the second current professional athlete, to endow an athletics scholarship at his alma mater. Former Ute All-America basketball player and current Philadelphia 76er Andre Miller created an endowed scholarship that bears his name for the Ute basketball program in April 2006.
Said Smith, "It is a honor for Angie and me to give back to the University of Utah football program in the form of an athletic scholarship and provide another student-athlete the same opportunity that was afforded me here at the U."
Smith, a third-round draft pick by Carolina in 2001, is a three-time Pro Bowl selection (2002, 2006, 2007). He won the "Triple Crown" in 2005, leading the NFL in receiving yards (1,563) and tying for first in receptions (103) and touchdowns (12). He is only the third player since the NFL merger in 1970 to lead or tie for the NFL lead in those three categories, joining Jerry Rice (San Francisco, 1990) and Sterling Sharpe (Green Bay, 1992). Smith was also named the 2005 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
Smith made the Pro Bowl his first year in the league as a return specialist and was the only rookie to make the team. Also in 2001, he led the NFC and ranked second in the NFL in kickoff return average (25.6), and was the only NFL player to return both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown.
Smith holds several records at Carolina and is the franchise's all-time leader in combined net yards (9,059). He set Carolina season records for receptions, receiving yards and 100-yard games in 2005.
In his two years at Utah (1999-2000), Smith was a record-setting receiver and returner. Utah's leading receiver both years, Smith is the school record holder in yards per catch for a career. A first-team all-Mountain West Conference return specialist in 1999, Smith holds school records for most punt returns in a season, most punt return yards in a game and a season, punt return average for a game, and most punts returned for a touchdown in a game, season and career.
Said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham of Smith's pledge, "On behalf of the University of Utah football players and coaches, I want to thank Steve Smith for his generous donation and for his support of our program. Steve's gift is significant not only for its monetary value, but for the value placed on a scholarship bearing his name. Receiving the Steve Smith Endowed Wide Receiver Scholarship will be a tremendous honor for a young man entering this program. Steve is not only one of the greatest receivers ever to play for the University of Utah, he is recognized as one of the best receivers now playing in the NFL. Accepting a scholarship bearing Steve's name, in my mind, is accepting a commitment to play with an extraordinary passion and enthusiasm for the game."
Utah Director of Athletics Chris Hill had this to say about Smith's donation. "It is always a thrill when a former student-athlete gives back to the athletics program and especially so when it comes from a player who provided us so many thrills as a player. I am so proud of Steve Smith for the person he has become. His accomplishments as an NFL wide receiver are well documented, but less is said about his generosity and the commendable way he lives his life. It is a great tribute to Steve that he wants to help wide receivers try and follow in his footsteps at the University of Utah and beyond. It is fitting that this award is named after both Steve and his wife Angie, who met and married while students at the University of Utah. This gift demonstrates their commitment as a couple to our football program."
Smith's pledge is the fourth major gift to the Utah athletics program in recent years by former Utes now playing in the professional ranks. Other gifts to the department's endowment fund or to renovate athletic facilities came from NBA players Miller (2006) and Andrew Bogut (2006), and NFL quarterback Alex Smith (2007).
